Flesh and Blood
by XxPorcelainKnightXx
Summary: It's hard to develop a relationship with someone when they're on a different plane of existence. So when Netto FINALLY gets his much awaited navi on his fifteenth birthday, it's not exactly what he expected... (I have no idea where the hell I'm taking this story atm This is more or less probably the .EXE game universe because that's what I'm most familiar with.)


System start up

. . .

System running

. . .

System error

Primary (internal) battery (601)

. . .

System shutting down

Dr. Hikari sighed as he pulled away from his computer and looked at the system that had been giving him so much trouble. "…Come on now… Won't you please wake up?" He asked gently, as if talking to a small child. He had been working on this project for over several months now- was it even over a year or so? Perhaps. He wouldn't put it past himself to have been invested in the project for that long… But still… He hadn't expected _this _much trouble from it.

He decided to take a coffee break since his mug had somehow throughout the course of several hours disappeared. He stood up, taking the mug with him and into the elevator. This project was probably more troublesome since he had kept it a secret for numerous reasons, but mostly because it was first and foremost a present for his son. He didn't want anyone else to have a hand in it. It was practically the prototype for something that could have infinite impact on the world.  
>For good or bad wasn't his right to choose, it was just his right as a researcher and scientist to simply present his findings and creations that came with those findings to the world. It was a morale dilemma surely, but he had faith in the majority of the human race.<p>

He exited the elevator, giving a brief nod to a fellow employee as he passed, the woman by the front desk reminding him his wife had called again. He nodded again, but not enough to actually let her know if he was truly awake enough to hear it. He had started to look unkempt with a bit of stubble growing from his face, his hair becoming less and less tamed by a brush or comb while his clothes had probably been the exact same from a week ago. He went into the employee lounge, making small talk with his coworkers, but it was mostly them picking on him for excessive hours in the lab- at least somehow more so than usual- and that his wife would surely pack up and leave with their son if he didn't go home sometime soon.

"Oh I will, I will." He said, sipping from his newly refurbished cup of coffee, the rim marked with old helpings of it. "I'm just trying to finish up Netto's birthday gift is all. It's giving me a bit of trouble is all." He said with a light laugh in an attempt to subtly tell them it was nothing they needed to worry over. "Oh? _You_ getting problems?" A coworker remarked, a hint of snide and condescension in their tone. "I guess it was my own fault from insisting I start from scratch. It seemed like a good idea at the time…" He mused out loud, mostly to himself while he scratched his opposing hand slightly with the coffee mug between them.

He really wouldn't have done it any differently- in terms of concept of course. Application however, he wished he would have done it with much more precision- enough to be done now, actually… "Well I think it's sweet that you're putting that much effort into his present. You're usually really busy as it is, so you're probably running yourself into the ground! You should take a quick nap over another cup of coffee or an energy drink." A female coworker offered. "Sometimes a break from a project is what you need to actually finish it." She reminded. He mused quietly to himself while sipping from his mug.

"…If I can't get it by morning then I'll sleep on it. I really want this done before his birthday- I still have to lug it all the way home." He said with a chuckle and a crooked smile. "Well whatever it is, I'm sure he's going to love it." She said, flashing him a brilliant smile, but mostly out of her own ability to get him to see things her way if not in a small increment.

Dr. Hikari dragged himself back up to his makeshift work station in his office, sitting himself in his seat with a heavy sigh as he looked over his project again, his mind running through why exactly it wouldn't start up _this _time. It was always something with this thing… He gently patted it, wondering if by some miracle that would magically make it awaken and function properly for once. But alas, wishful thinking wasn't going to get him anywhere…

"…Honestly, I think it's so ironic." He spoke to it with a bit of a chuckle. "You're a present for my son who I hear is as much as a pain when I'm away as you are. I guess that's also ironic in its own right…" He said, the smile fading from his face into a melancholy over his missed family. He had taken the entire week for Netto's birthday off, regardless if he finished the project or not. He missed them… However, he'd feel terrible having to give him his gift late- yet alone have to by him something last minute like he had to last year since it hadn't been done then either.

He kneeled down in front of the project, gingerly placing his hands on it. "…Please won't you wake up? I'm sure he'd like to meet you." He spoke gently, as if addressing a child again. "…Are you scared? You don't need to be scared… He's going to love you- I promise." He said with a wide smile on his face. He can't even recall how many times he's told his current project all about Netto and his mother. "You're going to get along wonderfully- you don't need to be scared. He's going to fall in love with you- I can guarantee it." He reassured. "So… Let's try one more time?" He asked, standing up and placing his coffee on the desk.

System start up

. . .

System running

. . .

System start up complete

Dr. Hikari inhaled deeply, almost wondering if he had actually put his head down in grief and this was all just a dream. All it needed was some coaxing? Truly?

Internal error (201) detected

. . .

System shutting down

…Or not. He sighed and ran his hands through his greasy hair. Wonderful… Alright… He may as well start looking over the errors from scratch and see if something was fixable or formed some kind of pattern there… Or perhaps use what usually was referred to as something along the lines of "talking to the duck"? It was where a programmer or someone working on anything at all if they wanted, talked to something and explained step by step their process to see if they could find what was wrong…  
>…Well, he had talked to the program this much. What would a little more hurt?<p>

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・MegaMan・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

"…Do you think dad's coming?" Netto asked his mother once they had been left alone in the kitchen, his rambunctious friends in the other room. "Of course! He wouldn't miss your birthday for the world!" She chided, but the look on her newly fifteen year old son's face said he was doubting it. "…But it's already really late… Do you think maybe he forgot?" He offered an excuse for the father that wasn't even present. He watched the subtle action of his mother's shoulder's slumping. She had called for him several times; left messages and reminders that entire week just in case… Yet he hadn't replied to a single one. For all she knew, he never even got them. But she wouldn't tell her son that. It would only upset him more.

"…Why don't we have a snack until he gets here so we can cut the cake? Sound good?" She offered, quickly opening the fridge for something to catch her eye that she could use. "…Okay." He sounded reluctant, but still wanted the distraction. "Anything in particular you'd like?" She asked, looking over her shoulder. "…Let me know if you find a custom net navi in there." He said sarcastically. He had been wanting one for four years now- probably even longer, to no avail.

His father kept promising him one since fifth grade, but never delivered. It was sorely disappointing to the point where he had secretly resolved that if his father didn't give him one as a birthday present this year, he'd go out and buy one himself with the money he had saved up. He was tired of being the only one in his entire class, entire grade, entire school- probably the entire town!- without a custom net navi. Yaito had offered to buy him one on several occasions, but he had still clung to the hope of his father actually getting him one, thus denying her generous offers.

"Oh come on, you know that's not funny." She chided lightly, not wanting to lecture him on his birthday. "I'm being serious." He rebutted while sliding into a dining chair. "If that's not the reason he's late I'll never forgive him, I swear." He grumbled while his mother opted to make him feel guilty with a look of disappointment. "What? I'm sick and tired of being the only one without a custom navi!" He groaned. "Yaito even offered to buy me a _custom navi_- _**all. Week.**_" He added for emphasis. "Dekao even stopped picking on me and actually started feeling _sorry _for me recently! How embarrassing is that!"

Netto complained, slumping so far down in his chair that his chin touched the table. "Oh come on, it can't be _that _bad." His mother offered. He could feel the lecture of "I've never had a net navi and I get along just fine" bubbling up at her lips. "That's what you'd think. They don't do it as much around you because you're my _mom, _not my_ friend_." He reminded bitterly, getting up and making for the doorway before he'd have to hear her say the same thing again or worse, give him a look of dissapointment.

"I'm gonna go back in the living room with everyone else and play some more games… I'm fine with eating whatever." He offered while slipping out of the kitchen before she could object. Netto groaned loudly and plopped himself down into a beanbag chair. "…This sucks." He mumbled while looking up at the ceiling. "Aw, come on! Birthday's aren't supposed to suck until we're like 20 or whatever!" Meiru offered. "…That's only five years awaaaaaaayyyy…!" Netto groaned, throwing a pillow over his face. "I'm gonna be 20 and miserable with no custom net navi!" He whined.

"Well if you'd just _let me buy you one_." Yaito reminded. "…Yeah, yeah…" Netto mumbled half-heartedly, instantly being reminded of the ever nagging question- where was his dad? "…Alright, whatever I call winner!" He declared, forcing himself up right as he watched Yaito and Dekao go at it in the game. "…You don't have to be so upset you know." Meiru mumbled quietly once the pair had gotten absorbed in their round. He looked over at her, a bit confused. "Huh? About what?"

She glanced down between them, her fingers gently pulling at the pillow she had between them, then looked up at him. "…I know you're not really upset over the navi- I mean you are, but… That's not what's bothering you right now, is it?" She asked quietly. There was no point in lying to her if she already knew, but some part of himself still felt like putting up a fight. "…I'd rather not talk about it… It'll just make me more depressed…" He grumbled while Dekao won the first round with a loud declaration of victory.

"…You sure?" She offered one last time. He nodded while avoiding eye contact. He knew if he looked into those large pools she got to call her eyes that he'd cave and end up unloading his feelings unto her for the rest of the night. Yaito eventually won the game, Netto taking next game as he was allowed given the circumstances, regardless of who's turn it had actually been.

He actually was pretty angry, so he ended up winning several rounds in a row before giving it up of his own will (only in favor of eating the new snacks his mom had brought out, of course). It went on like this for another hour and a half or so, Netto eventually letting go of his grumbles and resolving on the idea of his father missing his birthday. It wasn't until just a few minutes before midnight that the door was pounded loudly upon, making everyone jump. Netto got up before anyone else could react, but mostly out of hoping it was his father- who else could it be at this hour? Then again, he _had _invited Enzan, who was typically unconventional.

True to his wishes however, his father stood in the doorway, panting and huffing with a sleeping teenager in his arms. "Ah! Here you are- happy birthday!" His dad said, passing off the massive weight that this child apparently was. Netto almost dropped him right there. "Wha… Why's'e- so heavy…?!" He asked, then realized his father had passed him this boy while saying happy birthday- this wasn't his present right?

…Right?

He hauled the sleeping boy inside of the house, practically dropping him on the couch. Everyone looked at him curiously, each their own different level of interest accompanied by said curiosity. "Isn't he wonderful? Looks practically human, doesn't he?" His father said, a wide smile on his unshaven face. "Looks… Wait so he's not?" Netto asked to confirm, looking back at the sleeping boy and then to his father again.

His father shook his head, the wide smile never leaving his features. "Nope! You've been wanting a custom navi, so here he is!" His father said regarding the boy without so much as an explanation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to ask your mother where the shaving cream is and if she'll make me a pot of coffee- if she's still up of course." He added while going up the stars. "Oh, uh, you can input a startup command and all of that through the basic start up menu! His name is RockMan!"

Netto almost grumbled to himself that he was as heavy as one, but he held his tongue. His father quickly came back downstairs, but not completely to add, "It's in his helmet- the uh, start up menu!" Before returning. They also briefly saw the scruff on his chin when he returned once more to add, "You can also just do it by voice command. start up and all that- well enjoy!" He said, officially disappearing and leaving the room in silence.

"…This… This is no net navi." Netto said after a long silence, finally being the one to break it. "He never said it was a _net_ navi- just a navi." Meiru reminded. "I wonder if he's supposed to be like what our Navi's would be like if they were in the real world… Looks a bit more practical, however." Yaito added, gently covering up his "simple" or "basic" image design with "kind" words. "…I think it's dumb." Dekao said simply. "If you're dad wanted another kid, why didn't he just say so?" That made Netto laugh a little.

"Alright, let's start him up." He resolved, sitting the boy upright against the couch with a bit of effort. He sighed and adjusted his bandana. "…Alright, uh… RockMan, startup- er, did I need to add the .exe or-" There was a humming, almost like waking a computer after putting it hibernation mode and listening to it reboot itself. After a bit of this with a few ticks and beeps, the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Netto.

"Good morning."

Everyone blinked. He didn't _sound _completely human. It was almost as if video chatting on an old computer with a terrible internet connection. It was perfectly synchronized with his mouth, but… It just sounded odd. "Uh… Hi…?" Netto offered. "…Would you like the basic start up menu? There are still some settings that need to be decided upon." The boy said, Netto having a hard time looking him in the eyes. They were devoid of any light and seemed a bit wider than they needed to be. With their green color, it was almost as if looking into a bright patch of allege in a swamp where everything died.

"Uh, yeah sure." Netto grumbled. The boy's helmet glowed for a moment before projecting a system option setting that had the same golden color as the section on his helmet that the projecting was coming from. "User name?" He asked kindly, stating the words the projection read. "This is so freaky." Meiru whispered to Yaito, who vigorously nodded in agreement. "I'm not sure if I want one or not." When Yaito didn't want some new kind of something, _clearly_ it was odd. "…User name?" He repeated simply in the same kind tone when Netto hesitated. It made him jump a bit. "...Uh, Hikari Netto." The text was entered as he spoke. "Is this the proper spelling?" He asked again the same kind tone.

It wasn't befitting of his eyes. Netto felt like he'd actually prefer if the boy sounded like a dead fish to match, rather than… He kept looking everywhere but the boy, eventually setting on the projection from his helmet. "Uh, yeah that's right." This went on for several minutes while the boy requested some of the most basic information about Netto. When it came to his date of birth, he stopped for a moment, smiling in a way that almost made his eyes not seem so out of place, almost as if giving light to them he seemed so deliriously happy for him. While saying in such a truly kind way, as if in hopes that he could have him the world if he so desired on this given day,

"Happy birthday, Netto." Escaped from his mouth. Meiru nudged him. "Awww, your new navi wished you a happy birthdaaaaay~ Awwww~" She cooed, further embarrassing him. "S-Shut up…" He grumbled, face flushing. He had heard that wish all day today, yet not once had it made him as embarrassed as his new navi had. Even without Meiru's taunting, he still found it embarrassing because the boy before him really seemed to wish from the bottom as well as the entirety of his synthetic heart that Netto have a wonderful birthday.

As the boy continued to ask him information, he eventually requested his computer. "Uh, what for…?" Netto asked briefly, mind flicking through if he still had some questionable sites in his browser history. "Unlike your computer, I'll be able to store a much larger capacity of information as well as organize your computer content, back up all of your data, store and play your music, and input events into a planner or the like of tasks accordingly if you so choose. I also need it to recharge after about a week or so for a few hours as well as receive updates, however the majority of my energy is solar powered, so it is not mandatory."

The quartet watched as the boy rambled off on his own with a smile on his face the entire time, each being slightly off put by it in their own way. Eventually, Meiru broke the silence. "…I don't care what Yaito said, I want one- he's so cute!" She declared, throwing her arms around it in a hug. "Netto, if you don't want him, I'll take him!" An argument quickly broke out between the pair as well as side comments from Yaito and Dekao. The boy let out a chuckle and gently removed Meiru from his person.

"I'm sorry, but regardless of your wishes, my use is for Netto only unless he states otherwise for temporary purposes. I was told by Dr. Hikari that a lot of effort was put into making my person as well as being the only one of my kind, currently. As such, I'd prefer to stay with Netto." He said, giving her a warm smile when he was done talking. "…Netto… _Netto_." Meiru said, shaking his shoulders while not removing her eyes from RockMan. "…Please oh my god you gotta let me borrow him for one day or something- please?! He's such a cutie pie!"

Netto scowled a bit, another reason to dislike his new present arising. "Yeah, yeah…" He grumbled, removing her from his person with a bitter expression. "Come on, my computer is in my room." He grumbled, pulling RockMan by his wrist. "Ah- W-Wait…!" The boy suddenly crashed to the floor face first, making Netto briefly worry if he broke him. He stopped moving, practically stopped breathing, while he waited for RockMan to get up. "…Is he dead? Oh my god my dad's gonna kill me! He's not moving- shit, oh man…!"

"Um… Netto…" RockMan's voice came, muffled from the floor. "…Huh?" He stopped and looked down at him, then quickly resumed panicking and dropped down to the floor and sat him upright, his nose a little red and the display from his helmet gone. "I just haven't started up the motor part of my system yet since it takes a moment. If you had a laptop I was going to ask if you could bring it downstairs. I didn't get a moment to ask that before you um…" He trailed off, not wanting to leave any of the blame on him. "Ah, I'm so sorry! You're not broken or anything are you?"

There was a slight whirring and ticking before the boy's facial expression dropped. "It appears there's been a 32% damage toll to my person." Netto's face instantly dropped and paled. "S-So much?! Really?! Oh man, my dad is going to kill m-" There was a light laugh and it took Netto a moment to realize his navi was laughing at him because it was a joke. "…You… You're kidding?" The navi smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, I was kidding."

"…I'm gonna…" Netto felt his fingers itch to be wrapped tightly around his navi's neck- he was laughing again. "I'm sorry…!" He said between chuckles. "No you're not!" Netto had almost completely forgotten his friends were there in favor of yelling at RockMan. "You stupid navi, you had me worried I busted you!" RockMan kept chuckling at him with meaningless apologies, but took note of the fact that his worry meant some part of Netto cared about his wellbeing. "Jeeze! Alright start up your stupid motor thing or whatever so I can hook you up to my computer… Man I'm gonna push you down the stairs or something, I can just feel it…" He grumbled.

"It's like watching him if he had a brother." Meiru whispered, Dekao and Yaito nodding in agreement. "…It's cute. Netto deserves him." Meiru said, a maternal smile gracing her features. "His navi is pretty sassy too." Yaito added. Dekao scoffed. "His navi can't even interact with _our _navis. What a waste! I was looking forward to being able to kick his butt again when he finally got one." RockMan stopped whirring for a second to look at Dekao and smile. "I can. Also, if you're going to whisper around me, it's best to do it in the other room, but even then, if it's asked of me, I can still hear you as well as up to 1500 meters away." …Yaito looked mortified.

"…Netto, your navi better be joking again! I don't want him listening in on me while I'm in my house!" She cried, terrified at the thought. "Unless there was legitimate reason to, I wouldn't, even at Netto's request. You'd have to be in danger or some other kind of compromising situation before I did something like that. I have basic concepts of privacy, the same as any other navi does you know." He said, looking up at her from the floor as if hurt that she'd think he'd do something like that.

"Yeah- besides, who'd wanna listen in on _you _anyways?" Netto teased. It resulted in the four of them squabbling again, RockMan eventually finishing up his basic motor process without any further interruptions since the four of them had kept each other in the other's hair. "Netto? I can move now." He spoke, calling his name clearly and just a level about the four of theirs. "…happens when you-! ah… Oh, okay." Netto stopped, mid argument. "Uh… It's, uh… this way then." He said, leading the way to his room while the rest followed behind, RockMan in front of the trio.

He booted up his computer, once again letting his mind wandered into his browsing history for questionable territory. He felt like RockMan wouldn't- or rather shouldn't- do something like that, but he wasn't so sure just yet… "…So uh, how exactly do you um… You know… Jack in or whatever it is you call it?" RockMan placed his hand on the back of his neck sitting down by the side of Netto's computer desk. "It's the same as jacking in- called as such too. There's just a bit more too it is all. If you'd like, you can jack all of your navi's in and I can meet them as well." He offered, pulling a USB cord from the back of his neck.

"Oh, sick…" Netto spoke in more or less awe rather than disgust. "Alright then! Netto do you mind if we all jack in our navis so they can meet RockMan?" Netto shook his head. "Go for it." He made way for his friends on his computer. "U-Um…! The only thing I'm going to request and insist on and make a big deal over is unplugging me while I'm hooked up to your computer. Please don't ever do that, I don't know what will happen." RockMan spoke up from by Netto's floor, looking utterly horrified.

"…Dad didn't work the kinks out on that yet? I mean you can unplug from your regular net navi's and all that…" He was honestly shocked, but then again, there was always room for improvement and such- plus he had gotten him here _on _his birthday, so… "It's a bit different than a PET and a navi. Your PET is separate from your navi- it's like their house. With me, it's a different concept. I'm putting everything that makes me function into a digital form that is basically emulated like a navi. However, without the constant connection, I could either be trapped in the form of the emulator or have the emulator become broken, glitched, or even taken over without proper precautions. So… Please, whatever you do please don't ever unplug me until further notice." He asked once more, again looking mortified.

…In a way, it would be like killing him. Netto walked over and plopped down next to his navi. "Don't'chu worry. I'll keep you safe, okay RockMan?" The navi seemed to relax a bit at the words of comfort and nodded. "…Thank you, Netto." His operator shot him a wide grin. "Don't worry about it! So, since you're basically a navi when you're plugged in, do you have a control set like a PET or somewhere to put chips into or…?"

"Not at the moment. Dr. Hikari still needs to make a few adjustments to me as well as additions, but basic functions are all working. So for now, feel free to use my helmet projection as you would a PET aside from battle chip functions." Netto nodded and turned to face him better while RockMan pulled up a holograph again, this time with an intractable interface. "Want me to jack you in?" He offered, feeling excited. RockMan noticed, so in spite of being fully capable of doing it himself, he let Netto. "Oh man, oh man, oh man…!" He shot up with the USB that connected to RockMan's neck in his hand. "I've always wanted to say this… Just never knew what my navi's name was gonna be." He trailed off with a wide grin on his face. He took in a deep breathe, the wide, excited smile never leaving his face.

"Jack in, RockMan, execute!"


End file.
